Hyginus lists Tlepolemus among the suitors of Helen;[9] thus bound by the oath of Tyndareus, he was among the Greek allies in the campaign against Troy, leading a force of nine ships.[1]

He encountered Sarpedon on the first day of fighting recounted in the Iliad and taunted him saying that he lacked courage and could not really be the son of Zeus.[10] Tlepolemus then attacked him, and although he wounded Sarpedon, he was slain by the latter.[11]

According to Pausanias, Polyxo killed Helen to avenge for her husband's death,[6] though Polyaenus says that Menelaus had dressed up a servant in Helen's clothes and that the Rhodians killed her instead as Menelaus and Helen escaped.[12]